The Krotons

"Zoe is something of a genius, of course. It can be very irritating at times!"

Writer: Robert Holmes 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 28th December 1968 - 18th January 1969

Season: 6.04

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on a planet where the civilisation is dominated by the hidden but deadly Krotons. The Gonds have been subject to their will for a millennium but there may just be a revolt about to start...

Verdict 

The Krotons was a great little story! I say little because in terms of this sixth season, it's actually quite refreshing to have a what we'd consider traditional Classic adventure at four episodes long. To me, it is the perfect length. It's no secret why all the regular cast had voiced their intentions to depart the series after this season because I just can't imagine the strain the number of episodes would have taken! There are only three stories left of the season after this story but they'll consist of 22 individual episodes! At least they're going out in style, even for Zoe who seems she's only just arrived following her sneaking into the TARDIS in The Wheel in Space. I liked how this story started with the Gond ceremony of two young people being chosen to be with the Krotons. After the TARDIS trio arrived and witnessed the death of one of those chosen, they were determined not to let another happen! They saved Vana from being vaporised but it was clear that whatever these Krotons were, it wasn't such an hour to be chosen. It meant immediate death. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe's arrival into the Gond society was quite humorous and I loved how everybody soon stopped being friendly when they found out they'd come from the dreaded wasteland. Of course, the Krotons had kept almost everything away from the Gonds and whatever contamination and poison to the air there once was had now been long gone. The Krotons were beyond dictators. They literally dominated the Gond life and had kept them enslaved for a millennium. But now, the Gonds were ready to fight back. It showed just how much the Krotons controlled their lives though when we saw the highly advanced computers and intelligence but their weapons were so primitive they'd probably lose a battle against the Tribe of Gum. So how would they go about defeating the very rulers no living person had ever seen? The Doctor would have some input into that of course. However, he couldn't do so without the help of Zoe. I thought this was Wendy Padbury's best performance yet as Zoe! I loved how intelligent she was presented as being and the fact that she was in an intelligence competition with the Doctor just showed how clever she was. It did though serve to highlight just how dumb Jamie was, and at times I think it went a little too far in hurting the character. But there was no lasting damage done and throughout I adored the relationship the Doctor and Zoe shared. The intelligence test scene was one of my favourites. I really liked the dissension amongst the Gonds and I found the change of leadership halfway through quite a surprise. The recovery of Vana was nice to see and I liked how the Doctor used hypnosis methods to see her returned to normality. The study of acids amongst Gond scientists being forbidden again illustrated how controlling these monstrosities were. The makeup of the Krotons though was brilliant. They were almost organic metal! Quite a difficult concept to wrap your head around but it made sense after explanation which is all that counts. I thought the cliffhangers were all terrific which is quite a rarity so that was nice to see. The Krotons' delayed appearance was good but once they were shown I thought it could have been a bit more of an explosive arrival. The climax was good with the machine being attacked from below and then the Doctor and Zoe wonderfully fooling about to delay the Krotons' plan after the sulphuric acid had been dropped into their effective life supply. They were poisoned and dissolved into nothingness. The Gonds were free and the Krotons were merely crystals. Overall, a good debut story for Holmes!

Rating: 8/10